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Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Many years ago, I spent an unforgettable year in
Canada. Every moment was
wonderful and I loved it immensely.

One thing that struck me as a little different however, was
Valentine’s Day. In Australia, Valentine’s
is for lovers (or would be lovers – that is, after all, the point of the day)
but in Canada it was for everyone.

Having never had a Valentine before, I was inundated with
them and more than a little disappointed to discover they were from children
and friends I had met. Not realizing
just how big-a-deal the day was, I am ashamed to admit, I was a little
non-plussed by the whole event. I was 18
and wanted a PROPER Valentine and Kiddy Valentines did not make the grade as
far as I was concerned.

Every
Valentine’s day since then, I have to smile a little at my disillusioned 18
year old self and when I saw this cable pattern, I thought I would make myself a neckwarmer to remind me that Valentine’s day is for everyone
– not just young lovers. Whilst you don’t necessarily have to wear your heart
on your sleeve, you can wear it snugly around your neck.

PATTERN

Use a small circular 4mm needle and 8ply wool of your choice. This pattern uses Debbie Bliss - Prima.Cabling without a cable needle

This pattern is cabled on every second row - some have more cables than others so there is no escaping it. It is the perfect project to learn how to cable without a cable needle. The cables are only 2x2 which makes learning and picking up stitches much easier. If you would like to try this method, the following article in 'Knitty' is very easy to follow. Scroll to about the middle of the article and everything is explained. There are also a number of youtube videos that show this method which are only a 'google' away. This method is quicker and is tighter as the stitches are not hanging off the back or the front of your knitting and you are not 'pulling' on them. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the result. It does take a bit of practice though but, once mastered, you'll never be a slave to the cable needle again. However, it's just a suggestion. Feel free to cable however you want.

Using the picot method, cast on 126 stitches. This method of cast on enables a bit of 'stretch' at the bottom of the neckwarmer so it doesn't become too tight.Picot cast on. Using the cable method of cast on, cast on 5 stitches. Cast off 2 stitches. Transfer (slip)the remaining stitch on the RHS needle to the LHS needle and cast on 4 more stitches to make a total of 5. Cast off 2, transfer and repeat until you have required amount of stitches.Cable Cast on. When you insert the needle to cast on a stitch, instead of inserting it through the stitch, insert it before the stitch ie. between 2 stitches.

Row 1: Join stitches in the round ensuring they are not twisted and *Knit 16, Purl 2*, repeat to end. Place stitch marker
to indicate the beginning of each row.

Once you have reached your desired length, bind off using
the ICord bind off.

ICord Bind off

On the first stitch of your bind off row, cast on 4
stitches.

Knit 3 and using the SSK method of decreasing, bind off 2
stitches.The SSK bind off is essential in this method as it is a left hand sloping decrease.

(SSK – Slip the next 2 stitches separately as if to knit. Insert the LHS needle through the front of
the 2 slipped stitches – the RHS needle should now be at the back of the
stitches and Knit 2 together).

Slip all 4
stitches on the RHS needle to the LHS and knit 3. SSK again, Slip all 4 stitches and continue
until you have 4 remaining stitches on your LHS needle.

K2tog twice.

Slip 2 stitches to LHS.
K2tog. Finish

Using the tail of your yarn, gently sew the
edges of your ICord together.

Note: The neckwarmer does not sit as upright as the above photos shows. I used some card wrapped around the neck to create some stiffness to show off the cabling.

This neck warmer will keep you toasty warm in the winter months, just as a true Valentine should.

Monday, 28 January 2013

In Australia, the new school year starts towards the end of January - after the long Summer break which includes all the festive celebrations of Christmas and then the loud day of barbecuing that is Australia Day on January the 26th. In our household, not only is late January the start of school, but also the beginning of a new year of ballet class. During the holidays we've discovered that the new uniform leotard this year is mint and while we love the colour and Miss 11 is incredibly excited, it's difficult to find hair accessories in any shade of green. We've been busily making hair bows (you can find our tutorial for those here), but we thought we'd give crochet bun nets a try, just to add a bit of variety.

A quick google search and we came across a great video tutorial from "Clare's addicted to Yarn" and I was happily crocheting away when I realised that the bun cover was going to be really big. Miss 11 has thick hair, which we recently had cut (mainly to take some of the weight out of her ballet bun!!) to just below shoulder length. I made the decision to start again with a smaller size 3 crochet hook and followed the video tutorial until the second row of triple crochet, where I substituted double crochet. I then did one more row of triple and then a half double to finish. Using 8 ply wool for the crochet and sewing in elastic to finish, the cover ended up being the perfect size.

My pattern ended up as:

Chain 5, Using slip stitch join to first chain to form circle.

Round 1. Chain 4, Chain 1 and treble crochet (TC) into circle.

Chain 1 and repeat 10 times (12 stitches). Slip stitch join to top of first TC to finish circle. Slip stitch into chain 1 space.

Round 2. Chain 3, Work DC into same space, Chain 1, Work 2 x DC into next space, Chain 1. Continue working 2 DC into each space with a chain one when moving to the next space.

Round 3. Chain 4, TC, Chain 2, miss next space from previous round TC x 2, Chain 2 (two TC into every second space from the previous round, with a Chain 2 when moving between spaces.) Slip Stitch into top of chain 4 to complete circle

Round 4. Slip stich into gap of previous round. Work 1 row Half Double Crochet with two stitches into the double space of the previous round and one stitch in the single spaces. Join with a slip stitch to finish. Sew in elastic.

I'm tempted to also make a bun cover in crochet cotton, but as yet I haven't been able to find plain mint, just a beautiful (in my opinion) variegated blue and mint colourway that Miss 11 wasn't hugely keen on...perhaps I'll make it up anyway and see what she thinks!

Happy crafting

Deb

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Friday, 25 January 2013

I have become a little crazy about cowls. I love the simplicity of them and so, most of my work colleagues have received one for Christmas. It does seem a bit odd to be giving a winter item in the middle of an Australian summer but I am sure they will appreciate it around June.

I have knitted a few accordion cowls. It's a very simple pattern.

Pattern

Cast on 120 stitches. Join in the round being careful not to twist the stitches.Knit 5 rows plain, then 5 rows purl.Continue until the cowl is the desired size and cast offCouldn't be easier ....
I used some wonderfully thick yarn (10 ply) from my stash (2 x 50g balls) and size 5.50mm circular needles and decided to use a few buttons to create quite a contemporary look.

I had a lot of fun with the buttons. I had originally decided on 3 large wooden buttons, but, in the spirit of Christmas, decided to go overboard and in the end, I used 9.

A total of 9 wooden buttons

I even experimented with sewing them on. I used the yarn as a long stitch between the buttons so it could be seen.

Wednesday, 23 January 2013

What better way to celebrate my first Valentine's Day as a fully fledged crochet addict, than to crochet a heart or two. I had a fabulous time working on this pattern and experimenting with different yarns and cottons. For the hearts pictured, I've used an 8ply wool with a size 4 crochet hook, a 3ply cotton with a size 3 hook and a Milford "Mercer" ombre thread with size 3 hook.

Pattern

Chain 11

Skip one chain, work Single Crochet along the row to the end of the chains, Chain one.

Turn work, skip first stitch and single crochet along the row.

Continue crocheting rows until a square has formed.

Slip Stitch along the outer edge of the square to the centre (approx 5 stitches), Chain 2, Slip Stitch into base of chain, Continue to slip stitch until the end of the row

Triple crochet into the chain loop nine times, forming a fan shape, slip stitch to the end of the row

Continue to Slip Stitch half way along next side of the original square, Chain 2, Slip Stitch into the base of chain, continue to Slip Stitch to the end of the row. Triple Crochet into the Chain loop 9 times, forming a fan, Slip Stitch into the end of the row, which will be in the centre of the two fans you have now formed.

Single Crochet around the entire edge of the heart. Block to finish

Happy Valentine's Day

Deb

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Monday, 21 January 2013

This year, for the first time in 18 years, I will not be doing any school runs, or attending Parent/Teacher meetings, or awards nights or school music perfomances. I won't be organising school uniforms or buying school supplies and I'm in 2 minds about it. Part of me won't miss the running around but part of me is not ready to let go of a routine that has been a fundamental part of our lives for nearly 2 decades. I am sure that will pass quite quickly and I am excited to see the paths that my children take.

My daughter is well on her way to independence. She has already had a stint of living out of home and is now mastering the Uni/work life balance. My son is just about to start Uni and is eager to get going. This year, he is in charge of organising books, supplies etc and is going to use an IPad in class. Everything is organised - except a cover. Always keen to keep my needles going, I suggested a knitted one. He agreed but there are, however, specific instructions that go with the cover.

No buttons or fastenings so it can't get caught on anything.

Not too loose

Not too tight.

Masculine (obviously .. )

In the end I chose a 4ply, self striping sock yarn. Even though the yarn is fairly lightweight, the pattern is filled with cables which give the IPad protection.

Pattern

If you look in the middle of your knitting,
the cast on stitches blend seamlessly

Using a small 4mm circular needle cast on 130 stitches (65 stitches on each needle) using 'Judy's Magic Cast on'. I urge you to give this method a go. Firstly, it is not as difficult as it seems and the end result is, well, quite magical. Totally seamless. Secondly, it eliminates the need for ANY sewing up at the end of the project and anyone who knows me will know how I will go to any lengths to avoid sewing up. If, like me, you have never tried this method of casting on, you will be amazed!

Follow Judy's instructions to the letter up to Step 10 (up to the part where she says 'We now return you to your regularly scheduled pattern') and it all comes together.

Once you have cast on your stitches, Knit 3 rows in stockinette stitch. Place a stitch marker to indicate the beginning of your row.

Row 4. P3, K7 to end. This is the set up row for the cables.Row 5. P3, C7B. (Slip 3 needles onto cable needle and hold at the back of your work. K4 from left hand needle then K3 from cable)Row 6 - 9 As row 4.

Continue Rows 4 - 9 for the required length. In my case, this ended up being 15 repeats of the cable.

Next row. K2, P2 to end.Repeat for 8 rows. Bind off.As there was not going to be any buttons or fastenings when it was finished, I had to make sure that the cover well and truly covered the end of the IPad. I also threaded some sewing elastic around the top edge to 'pull' the ends together.

As you are knitting the cover, you might think that it looks a little small. Believe me, it stretches.

Now that I have mastered the magic cast on it opens up all sorts of possibilities - I'm thinking a cabled handbag might be in order.

Cabled IPad Cover

Happy Knitting,

Louise

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Friday, 18 January 2013

I have discovered a magnificent Zauberball colourway that, when crocheted, creates a lovely mix of colours. It's called 'Floral Garden' and it is a wonderfully apt name.

Button Rose Tea Cosy

I crocheted some roses for my knitted doorstop but couldn't stop at just one project and I was hunting around for something else that I could use them on. Then one of my work colleagues mentioned that she would love a tea cosy. I knew the roses would be perfect for this.

We have already made a tea cosy using roses in our Sibling Ravelry post but the finished cosy was in Melbourne and I am in Perth. It was of no matter though as I was keen to make another.

I used our original pattern for the tea cosy using Bendigo Woollen Mills12 ply in Almond. As this wool is very thick, it was larger than our previous cosy and fits a 6 cup tea pot.

BASIC KNITTED PATTERN TEMPLATE

Floral Cosy - medium sized tea pot

Cast on 84 stitches and knit 4 rows in K1, P1 rib.

5th row - K40, cast off next 4 stitches and K to end

6th row - P40, turn

Continue for 38 more rows.

Join wool to remaining 40 stitches and K40 rows in stocking stitch.

Change to DPN needles (20 stitches per needle)

1st row - K to end (join up)

2nd row - decrease (K2tog) at each end of each needle.

Continue row 1 & 2 until 2 stitches remain on each needle.Thread a yarn needle with the yarn and pull through the remaining stitches Pull firmly and secure with a stitch or two to hold in place.Sew the bottom ribbing together and you are all done.
Once the cosy is finished, the fun begins.
The link to crocheted roses is here .. Crochet Roses by Skip to My Lou

Tea Anyone?

I attached the roses to the cosy using buttons. Firstly, I sew the buttons to the roses to keep them in shape and then, using the same piece of thread, attach them to the cosy. The addition of the buttons is very sweet - almost a shabby chic effect.

In the end, it's a quintessential Tea Cosy, that is just perfect for gift giving.

PS.. you'll never guess what arrived in today's post. The original tea cosy!! Deb sent it over for me to have, which makes giving mine away a bit sweeter as I have one to keep. Tea anyone?!

Happy Knitting,
Louise

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Monday, 14 January 2013

There's a great little gadget that we have in our house called "Star Wars in my Pocket" (you can find them here) and when chaos reigns, the washing basket is overflowing and dinner is burning in the oven, we've found a little voice out of the darkness saying "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." really can lift the mood!

I've long thought a similar device called "Mother in my pocket" would work particularly well for the oft repeated phrases that mothers always use. Mine would contain "Have you brushed your teeth?", "Is your lunch box out of your school bag?", "Where's your jumper?" and of an evening "Who's hidden the TV remote?"

Obviously tired of the search for the TV remote of an evening, Miss 11 decided to take matters into her own hands and with a couple of balls of wool and the long loom knitter has made us a hanger that not only holds two remotes, but is handily placed on the arm of the chair where I usually sit. Even her older teen brothers were pretty impressed!

Materials

Long Loom Knitter

2 balls of wool (my daughter found some lovely

variegated yarn that we had tucked away in my wool stash that I also recently used for some embroidered placemats)

Method

Using the video instructions from our "Charity Knitting" post (you can find the post here) use the entire length of the 38 pin loom and knit for 45cm (approx 18 inches). Cast off.

To make pockets, fold up 15 cm (approx 6 inches) at each end of the knitted length and sew side seams in place.

Friday, 11 January 2013

While the rest of the world seems to make New Year's resolutions regarding fitness, diet and health, I'm afraid I'm the one at the back of the room quietly mumbling "errr, actually this year I'd like to learn to <insert crafty skill here>". In fact I think I've probably got the next few years of crafts I'd like to learn already in mind, but for 2013 learning to embroider was at the top of the pile. I was already very prepared, having received a gift voucher for my birthday and stocked up on thread, hoops and sewing needles. I had planned to start with flowers and envisaged a lovely English rose as my first project, but a recent trip to inland Australia in Summer made me rethink the plan and so the inspiration for my wool flowers came from the dry and dusty landscape we encounted.

I just happened to have some beautiful variegated yarn in natural tones and added some embroidery thread in Anchor Light Copper (shade 377) and Light blue violet (shade 117) for highlights. To start I used tailors chalk to draw the centre of the flower and five points around the edge which would be the tip of the petals. The fabric is a heavy cotton drill - durable enough for placemats and with an edge that frays to avoid the need to sew...and that's always a bonus in my eyes!

I formed a knot in the wool and came through from the back of the fabric to a point on the circle adjacent to one of the outer dots (which mark the place for the petal tips) and then did one stitch from the inner circle into the chalk dot, coming back under the fabric in the same place. To form the petal, I then repeated the process another four times alternating which side of the stich the yarn would go to.

For the finishing touches I added a centre of tiny French knots (there's an easy tutorial here)
and three small stitches in light blue violet at the tip of each petal
as well as a stitch of light copper in between the base of each petal
where they meet the centre of the flower. I really enjoyed this
project and found that keeping the needle between the stitch and the
fabric as I formed the stitch gave the petals a little bulk and evenness. I can see a little more practice and the stitches would be more even again, but for now I'm loving our new placemats, they are a little handmade memento inspired by a wonderful holiday.

Happy crafting

Deb

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Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Pin It
My parents recently drove across the country to visit. A journey of slightly less than 3600km (that's just over 2200 miles) and if driven without a break would take a mere 36 hours of non-stop driving! It's a hard slog of a journey, but they had some very precious cargo on board and so there was no time to waste. The precious cargo was of course, not only themselves, but my new handmade knitting loom. My father's woodworking skills have been mentioned on the blog before (you can read about them here) and I was very excited at the prospect of their arrival.

One of the projects I was most excited about making on my new loom was a pair of socks. Both my fellow blogger Louise, and my mother seem to have no hesitation in picking up a pair of needles and quickly making a pair, but it's something I've never done and while I was extremely tempted by Louise's Sock Knitting 101 post, I hadn't managed to go shopping for sock knitting wool as the loom knitter kept calling me back. With my new adjustable loom, I had the means and opportunity to give it a try.

There was much starting over with this project. I had no idea how many pins to use and after doing the rib twice, finally decided that 36 pins looked about right.

Pattern

Using Katia Darling colour 206 (gorgeous shades of royal blue, meandering through tones of greys and blacks before arriving at vibrant teal) cast on. I found the instructions from Knittingboard.com on youtube to be very helpful throughout the sock process.

- Rib: Knit one, Purl one for 9 rows.

- Continue using e-wrap stitch until you reach the sock length desired.

- Turn heel - This is the part of the project that I thought would be very difficult, but the video instructions were very easy to follow.

Sunday, 6 January 2013

This blog post was to be about felting. I was knitting some swatches that I was going to felt and then make into a Buttons & Heart wall hanging .. just in time for Valentines day. However, try as I might, only 2 of my swatches resembled felt. The rest would not budge from their original knitted state. I read up about felting, almost lost feeling in my hands from all the hot water, spent over an hour with a potato masher in a plastic tub trying in vain to get something, anything to felt. It did not work. I threw them in the washing machine filled with hot water and detergent - Nothing. How hard can it be? People have been doing it for practically ever.

To take my mind off the un-felted felt, I went to my local craft shop to buy some ribbon to attach the hearts to. I came across some felted craft sqaures for 56c each. I had a mid-project crisis. Do I continue to try and felt the unfeltable, or do I cut my losses and buy the sqaures at this ridiculously cheap price?

Once I arrived home with my newly purchased felt squares, I set about making the Heart hanging.

Using a set of heart shaped cookie cutters, trace around the felt to get 3 different sizes of hearts. Be careful about what pen/pencil you use to trace with. I used a pen and even though I used the other side of the felt, some of the pen marks still showed through - as I said before, ever had one of those projects?

Using blanket stitch, stitch around the outside of each of the hearts.

Once all your hearts are finished, it's time to glue them to the ribbon. I folded down the top of the ribbon to make a hanging loop. Then attach the hearts.

Sweet Valentine Buttons and Hearts wall hanging.

Happy Crafting,

Louise

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Friday, 4 January 2013

I grew up in the country in a little mining town about two and a half hours from the nearest skyscraper. A place that spent its Summers basking in sunshine so startlingly hot that frying an egg on the pavement seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to undertake, and developing a love of cricket was a necessary evil as it meant whole days could be spent inside watching the television, thus completely avoiding contact with the blistering world that waited outside our front door. Given my experience of inland Australian Summers, even I was surprised that I agreed to an inland holiday in the hottest part of the year.

As the children are getting older, I do wonder how many more family holidays we will have and so I treasure the time we spend together, even if there are squabbles about who has the best iPod playlist, mumblings regarding the apparent inaccuracies of distances quoted on walking track signage and general disagreements about who will be sleeping in what bed - I'm sure I'll miss these things when the children decide they have moved beyond the need to holiday with us, but for now we packed the car and drove the three hours to the Grampians, some of us more excited than others!

The Grampians are a delight. A stunning mountain range rising from the flat dusty earth of inland Victoria and scattered with interesting towns and attractions. Even though this was technically a family holiday, I did still manage a couple of crafty outings amidst the sightseeing and relaxing.

We had a fabulous time at the Pomonol Village Market Day. The market is held on the last Sunday of every month in and around the Pomonol Public Hall. There was a wonderful array of second hand stalls coupled with the food and craft endeavours of local producers. While I managed to resist the temptation of the gorgeous wool on display, various jams and even a smallgoods stand selling all sorts of German bratwurts, I wasn't quite so iron-willed when it came to a stall selling homemade confectionery! The marshmallow was delicous...

Along the main road between Pomonol and Stawell is Blue Moon Alpacas and we called in to be greeted at the end of the long bend of their driveway by owners Stephen and Glenda. Glenda took us down to the paddock, called the alpacas and proceeded to let us know the ins and outs of keeping these friendly (and very, very cute) animals. Miss 11 has decided that if we ever buy an acre or two of land, an alpaca or three will be on her wish list. We then made our way to the farm shop and came away with a couple of balls of Alpaca yarn which have been put away for Andie who has decided that a poncho would be the perfect project.

It really was a wonderful holiday, incredibly relaxing and a delight to spend some family time away from technology and I'm pleased to say, even the weather was very, very kind to us.

Happy crafting

Deb

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Wednesday, 2 January 2013

Pin ItI recently bought a bulk lot of Louisa Harding yarn online. It is 50% wool, 50% silk and feels divine. It has a wonderfully soft feel against the skin and I thought it would be perfect for a cowl.

I have made it for a teacher at work who is taking a year off to get married and live in Melbourne. Prior to this, she is 'wintering' in Italy. Perhaps if I can't travel to Italy, at least my knitting can - although, that's really no consolation at all!

At one point, I left my knitting on the couch whilst I went to work and my son must have been inspecting it for when I came home, he casually mentioned that he really liked it .. and could he perhaps, maybe, have a cowl knitted in this yarn. I did a bit of a double-take. Mainly because he had taken the time to have a look at something I was doing.

My son is a talented classical guitarist and has been accepted into a music school to study for a Bachelor of Music. He is after something different but he has to be able to play guitar whilst wearing it.

We decided on the 'Bandana Cowl' by the Purl Bee. This would keep him warm but is close fitting and will not get in the way of his guitar playing.

Bandana Cowl

It is a quite an easy knit although, after I had finished, I couldn't get it over my head as it was too tight. Always read the pattern instructions - right to the end. I pulled it back and decided to try Jenny's Stretchy Bind Off. I watched the YouTube clip by Cat Bordhi and gave it a go. My son tried it on but it was too stretchy so, in the knitting equivalent of Golidlocks and the Three Bears, undid it again to get it just right. In the end, I modified the stretchy bind off. I only did the wrap stitch on every second stitch and behold, it worked.

I still have a few skeins left so it might be time to knit a cowl for me .. one day.